The Arlington Eagles are soaring back to the Tacoma Dome.
Kentwood guard Corey Tita drained an off-balance, game-tying triple with 1.7 seconds remaining, but a costly Conquerors reach-in foul on the ensuing inbound sent Arlington point guard Leyton Martin to the free throw line for the game-winning penalty shots at Auburn High School.
“We’ve got unfinished business,” Martin told The News Tribune. “We’ve been bounced in the first round a few times (at the Dome). We want to go get that first one.”
Martin’s only hope was to heave a halfcourt prayer at the buzzer, but Conquerors guard Aaron Ton reached for a can’t-have-it foul with Arlington in the bonus.
Martin hit his first free throw to give Arlington a 57-56 lead and Kentwood’s Brandon Tagle missed a long look at what could have been a miraculous buzzer-beater — but the Eagles held on for a one-point win in Saturday’s 4A state regional round, a loser-out affair that sent the winner back to this week’s Hardwood Classic in Tacoma.
“It’s crazy, man,” Martin said. “We just have a lot of fight. We’ve been playing together for a long time. I don’t think any of us wanted to be done playing… that showed tonight.”
Arlington trailed by as many as nine points in the final minutes until junior guard Maveric Vaden drained back-to-back triples that tied the game at 51 with 2:14 to play, part of a 14-0 run to stun a mostly-hometown Kentwood crowd.
“We just never quit,” Arlington head coach Drew Bryson said. “We’re not the tallest team, we’re not the biggest team, but we just keep fighting.
“I’ve got to (say) hats off to Kentwood. That’s a great team.”
Martin, the 4A Wesco MVP and league leader in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, came alive in the third quarter and finished with 14 points. He was the game’s best facilitator, earning oohs and aahs from the crowd with pretty passes behind the back and through traffic. Arlington’s Kaid Hunter paced the Eagles with 17 points.
Kentwood’s Brandon Tagle (19 points) and Corey Tita (18 points) controlled the first half and pushed the Conquerors into intermission with an eight-point lead. Enter Martin and Co.
“Our intensity… I think we just brought it to a (new) level,” Martin said. “We played hard all game, but we really started making plays in the fourth quarter. Just elevating to where we needed to be.
“We have a lot of guys who can go. If I’m forcing it, it doesn’t work. If I can keep the ball moving and find guys, we’re going to be really tough to beat.”
No. 14 Arlington meets No. 3 Glacier Peak in the Hardwood Classic’s 4A Round of 12 on Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome. Tip-off is set for 9 a.m. No. 11 Kentwood’s season ends by a razor-thin margin.
Bryson: “We ask a lot of (Leyton), and he’s a pretty special player.”
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